Today Logan asked me about the games I played when I was a child. These are some I remember:
- Jacks - required a ball and ten jacks (cost 10 cents at Woolworth's)
- Jump rope - could be single, or a long rope with two people to turn, or double dutch which required two matching ropes
- Tag - could be regular tag, stoop tag, or freeze tag
- Kite flying
- Hop Scotch
- Mother May I
- Simon Says
- Red Light, Green Light
- Red Rover
- Kick the Can
- Hide and Seek
- Rock School
All of the games required a gang of kids. We gathered our friends by standing outside their houses and calling for them to come out and play. We never rang the bell. Only jacks, jump rope, and kites required any equipment. We often made kites from newspapers and library paste with rags for tails. We bought the sticks at the hobby shop. Jump ropes were just lengths of rope with knots tied in the end. For hop scotch we needed a "toss," we called them taws -- singlular = taw. The very best taw was a key chain, or if you were really well off, two or three key chains linked together. Some people used their charm bracelets and others got by with a rock. The best time for playing was from after dinner until dark.
What strikes me about these memories is none of the games required much in the way of equipment, playing fields, or a need for transportation. All required a bunch of kids. We were so lucky.
Krista and I were privileged enough to grow up in a house where we were made to "GO OUTSIDE"...so we played almost all of these games too! Tag, Red Light/Green Light, and hopscotch (we used a rock). Our neighbors had perfectly positioned trees for baseball so we played that a lot too!
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